


If I Was Dying On My Knees (you would be the one to rescue me)

by asexualjuliet



Category: The OC (TV)
Genre: Episode: s04e15 The Night Moves, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene, dear soft kaitlin: i love you, i haven’t written anything in so long i can’t remember how to tag, ryan lets people take care of him!!, soft kaitlin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:07:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29588376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asexualjuliet/pseuds/asexualjuliet
Summary: “How you doing, buddy?” Seth asks.The piece of glass in his back is absolutely throbbing, and the blood loss is making him dizzy. He gives a chuckle. “Shitty.”Missing scene: the car ride to the hospital in 4x15
Relationships: Ryan Atwood & Kaitlin Cooper, Ryan Atwood & Seth Cohen
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	If I Was Dying On My Knees (you would be the one to rescue me)

**Author's Note:**

> this episode fucking slapped!! The sibling relationship between Ryan and Seth was good shit!! the Only thing we were robbed of was this car ride to the hospital and i decided to fill that void.
> 
> Title from Brother by Kodaline
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

“—Ryan!” Someone’s shaking his shoulder. “Come on, man!”

Seth’s face comes into focus in front of him, and Ryan blinks. 

“Okay. Good. Awesome. Great,” Seth says, and if Ryan had the energy to tell him to calm down, he would. “Let’s get you in the car, okay?”

“Car?” he manages, as Seth helps him up. 

“Yeah,” Seth says, offering Ryan a shoulder. “I borrowed Daryl’s shopping cart, but Julie and Frank were driving home, so…”

“You were gonna put me in a shopping cart?”

“We were kind of out of options, dude,” Seth says, helping Ryan to the car. 

Ryan shrugs as Seth opens the car door and helps him into the backseat next to Kaitlin. 

“Oh my God!” Kaitlin says. “Holy shit, Seth, you just said he was hurt!”

“Bleeding out is more like it,” Ryan says with a wry smile, which wavers when he remembers, “I’m definitely getting blood all over your car, though, so, uh, sorry.”

“It’s alright, kid,” Frank says from the driver’s seat. “Just as long as you’re okay.”

His words hit Ryan as odd, but in his daze, he can’t quite figure out why. 

“Here,” Kaitlin says, shrugging off her sweatshirt and offering it to Ryan, who just gives a blank stare. 

“For the blood. So it doesn’t get everywhere,” she explains. 

“I’m not gonna ruin your clothes—”

“I’m not fucking stupid, I know how to get blood out of things,” Kaitlin tells him with a roll of her eyes, and Ryan takes the sweatshirt with a slight smile as Seth gets in the car and shuts the door behind him. 

“We ready?” Julie asks. 

“Yeah,” Kaitlin answers, and Frank puts the car into drive. 

“How you doing, buddy?” Seth asks from Ryan’s other side. 

The piece of glass in his back is absolutely throbbing, and the blood loss is making him dizzy. He gives a chuckle. “Shitty.” 

“Okay. Yeah, that tracks. I mean, yeah, you—”

“Calm down, Seth,” Kaitlin says. “I’ve got him.”

Seth furrows his brow, but eventually shrugs, leaning back against the window and taking a deep breath. 

“C’mere,” Kaitlin says, in a soft tone Ryan’s never heard from her before. “You look like you’re gonna pass out.” 

With an uncharacteristically gentle touch, she brings Ryan’s head to rest on her shoulder and cards a hand through his hair. In this moment, she reminds him of her sister, and somehow, that’s comforting instead of absolutely fucking heartbreaking. 

“You’re okay,” she mumbles, her long brown hair tickling his cheek. “We’re almost there.”

“How’s Ryan doing?” Julie asks from the front seat. Ryan can’t find it in himself to answer. 

“He’ll be fine,” Kaitlin says, and something in her voice makes Ryan believe her. 

He feels pretty dizzy, though, a little lightheaded and a little sick, and he knows what’s coming next. 

“Kaitlin,” he says weakly. 

“You okay?” she asks. 

“I think I’m gonna pass out,” he tells her, and her eyes go wide. 

“Oh,” she says. “Uh, shit.”

He almost laughs, but can’t find the energy to do anything but focus on not losing consciousness. 

“Um, if you’re gonna faint, that’s cool,” Kaitlin says. “Or, well, not cool, but, I got you, y’know. You’re my brother.”

Ryan gives a smile before the world fades out and his vision goes black. 

-

“He’s out,” says Kaitlin, catching Ryan as he slumps forward. 

“Shit,” says Seth, with a nervous chuckle. 

“He’ll be fine,” Kaitlin says, running a hand through Ryan’s hair. “He’s tough.”

“Yeah,” says Seth, in a tone that’s not quite convincing to Kaitlin. 

“He’s gonna be okay,” she tells him again. 

Seth looks at Ryan, passed out in Kaitlin’s lap. Remembers the endless list of people he’s punched. Remembers how he used to look to Seth: fucking  _ invincible.  _ Kid Chino, who punched Luke in the face for him after eight hours of knowing him. Who he’d thought was just some kid, his time living in the pool house just a blip in Seth’s own life. 

His  _ brother.  _

“Yeah,” says Seth, with a slight smile. “I know he is.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> All mistakes are my own, please let me know if you see any!
> 
> Kudos/Comments are greatly appreciated!


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